User Manual Russell Hobbs 23200 Slow Cooker

• Owner's manual - (English)

• Dimension Guide - (English)
• Warranty Page - W10643471-W - (English)

Table of contents

• PARTS
• BEFORE USING FOR THE FIRST TIME
• THE BENEFITS OF SLOW COOKING
• COOKING MODES
• GENERAL
• PREPARATION
• COOKING
• TIP
• GRAVY/SAUCE
• CARE AND MAINTENANCE
• COOKING GUIDELINES

USER MANUAL SLOW COOKER

PARTS

1. Lid

2. Handles

3. Cooking pot

4. Light

5. Mode select

BEFORE USING FOR THE FIRST TIME

Remove all packaging and clean the slow cooker, to remove manufacturing dust, etc.

THE BENEFITS OF SLOW COOKING

Health: The gentle cooking action reduces damage to vitamins and retains more of the nutrients and flavours.

Economy: Long, slow cooking can tenderise cheaper, tougher cuts of meat, and uses about a quarter of the power of the small ring on the average hob.

Convenience: Prepare the ingredients the night before, put them in the slow cooker in the morning, before you leave for work, and have a delicious meal waiting for you when you get home.

COOKING MODES

• 1 (low) for traditional “slow cooking”. You must preheat the cooking pot in the slow cooker on 2 (high) for at least 20 minutes before cooking on 1 (low).

• 2 (high) for “fast cooking”, using the slow cooker as an electric stewpot. Keep an eye on it, to make sure that the food doesn’t dry out. If it looks like drying out, add hot water.

• (warm) for keeping food warm – but only after it has been cooked to readiness in the slow cooker.

CAUTION: Don’t use the 1 (low) setting to heat food up – you won’t kill the bugs.

GENERAL

• Thaw frozen food completely before adding it to the cooking pot.

• Brown the meat and sauté the vegetables in a pan.

• Don’t cook on 1 (low) without first preheating the cooking pot in the slow cooker on the 2 (high) setting for at least 20 minutes.

• Soak dried peas and beans for 8 hours (or overnight) before cooking, to soften them.

WARNING: boil dried beans (e.g. red kidney beans) for at least 10 minutes before adding to the slow cooker. They’re poisonous if eaten raw or undercooked.

• You don’t need to soak lentils overnight.

• Store ingredients prepared beforehand (e.g. the night before) in containers in the fridge. Don’t put the slow cooker or the cooking pot into the fridge.

• Root vegetables, tubers, and bulbs (carrots, potatoes, onions) take much longer to cook than meat, so cut them down to about 5mm (¼ inch) thick slices, sticks or dice, and sauté them gently for 2-3 minutes in a pan on a hob.

• All vegetables (including dried veg) must be immersed in the cooking liquid.

• When cooking with rice, use at least 150ml (¼pt) of cooking liquid for each 100g (4oz) of rice. We’ve found that “easy-cook” rice gives the best results.

• Pasta isn’t suitable for slow cooking, it becomes too soft. If your recipe requires pasta, it should be stirred in 30-40 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

PREPARATION

1. Decide when you want to eat and when you want to start cooking.

2. If you want to eat at 6 p.m., and you need to start cooking at 8 a.m., find a recipe that takes 8-10 hours. If you’re slow cooking at low power, an extra hour or so at the end of the cooking time doesn’t make much difference, as long as there’s sufficient cooking liquid to prevent the food drying out.

3. Prepare the food in accordance with the recipe.

4. Sit the slow cooker on a stable, level, heat-resistant surface.

5. Put the cooking pot into the slow cooker, fit the lid.

6. Check that the slow cooker is off – turn the control to 1 (low).

7. Plug the slow cooker into a wall socket (switch the socket on, if it’s switchable).

8. Turn the control to 2 (high), and leave the slow cooker to preheat for 20 minutes.

9. Boil the cooking liquid in a pan. If you use a tinned cooking sauce, add it to the pan before bringing it to the boil.

COOKING

1. When the 20 minutes is up, remove the lid (oven gloves) and put it on a heatproof surface.

2. Put the meat and vegetables into the cookpot and add the boiling cooking liquid.

3. Turn the mode select control to 1 (low) or 2 (high) as required.

4. The light will come on, and cooking will start.

5. If you want to serve the food right away, turn the control to 0, unplug the slow cooker (switch the socket off first, if it’s switchable)

6. Using oven gloves, remove the lid, and put it on a heatproof surface.

• It’s best to ladle the food from the slow cooker into serving dishes or plates.

• Don’t carry the slow cooker, the trailing cable may catch on something.

• You may use oven gloves to lift the cookpot, complete with the lid, but it’s hot and it’s heavy – so take care.

TIP

Cleaning can be made much easier if you immediately remove all the cooked food from the cooking pot, then fill it with warm water.

GRAVY/SAUCE

Slow cooking retains more of the juices than normal cooking. This tends to increase the volume of cooking liquid, and thin the sauce or gravy. To allow for this, sauces should initially be thicker than normal. Anything to be sautéed could be tossed in seasoned flour beforehand, to thicken the gravy/sauce.

CARE AND MAINTENANCE

1. Unplug the slow cooker (switch the socket off first, if it’s switchable).

2. Using oven gloves, remove the lid and the cooking pot and put them on a heatproof surface.

3. If you don’t intend to wash up right away, fill the cooking pot with warm water, otherwise residual heat may bake food debris on to the cooking pot, making its eventual removal more difficult.

4. Wash the lid and cooking pot in hot soapy water, using a cloth or sponge, then rinse and dry thoroughly. Don’t use scouring pads.

5. All other surfaces, internal and external, should be wiped with a damp cloth. You may use a little washing-up liquid, if necessary.

6. Dry all surfaces thoroughly before re-using the slow cooker or storing it away.

7. You may wash the cooking pot and lid in a dishwasher, but the harsh environment inside the dishwasher may affect the surface finishes.

• Any damage should be cosmetic, and should not affect the functionality of the cooker.

• Don’t immerse the body of the slow cooker in water or any other liquid.

• Don’t put the body of the slow cooker in a dishwasher.

• Don’t use harsh or abrasive cleaners or solvents.

COOKING GUIDELINES

Vegetables

Slow cooking is ideal for vegetables. There’s little evaporation, so all the juices and flavours are retained. Root vegetables like potato, carrot, turnip, and swede, need more slow cooking than meat. Cut them into 5mm (¼”) slices, sticks or dice, and immerse in the cooking liquid. Cooking times vary with the type and age of the vegetables. Experience will soon show the best times for your own taste. Quickly cooked vegetables, like frozen peas and sweetcorn, must be thawed,

Pulses (Beans, Peas and Lentils)

WARNING boil dried beans (e.g. red kidney beans) for at least 10 minutes before adding to the slow cooker. They’re poisonous if eaten raw or undercooked.

Don’t soak lentils. Soak dried peas or beans overnight. Drain and rinse, then boil for 10 minutes, in the cooking liquid, before adding to the cooking pot. Season at the end of cooking. For canned beans or peas, simply drain and add them 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Fish

Cooking fish in the cooking pot develops delicate flavours slowly, retains the flavour and nutritive value, and holds the fish together. Don’t cook fish for long periods.

1. Grease the base of the cooking pot with butter or margarine.

2. Clean, trim and wash the fish (rolled fillets and steaks are most suitable). Frozen fish should be completely thawed before slow cooking. Dry and place in the cooking pot.

3. Season well, sprinkle with lemon juice, then add hot stock, water or wine

4. Dot some butter over the fish, and cook on 1 (low) for 2-3 hours.

Meat

Slow cooking tenderises cheaper cuts, and reduces shrinkage and evaporation, retaining flavour and nutritive value. The size and shape of the joint, its quality, and the proportion of lean, fat and bone, all affect cooking times. When testing a dish to see if it’s cooked, don’t forget that root vegetables usually take longer to cook. Thaw frozen meat completely before cooking. Recipe times are given only as a guide. Where a different cut of meat is used cooking times may need to be adjusted. Avoid meat with a high proportion of fat, or trim the excess fat. Small joints, up to 800g (1½lb), can be cooked, depending on shape and fit. The meat mustn’t force the lid up.

1. Season the meat, then brown on all sides in the cook pot.

2. Transfer the cook pot to the slow cooker and cook at 2 (high) for the time shown.

3. Pork joints with rind may be grilled for 10 minutes to crisp.

4. If possible, turn joints once during cooking, to ensure even tenderness.

Poultry

Cook poultry up to 750g (1½lb). The lid mustn’t be raised by the meat. Thaw frozen poultry before cooking. Cook whole poultry unstuffed, at 2 (high).

1. Wash and dry the poultry and season inside and out.

2. Brown the skin in its own fat or a little cooking oil, in a pan on a hob.

3. Transfer to the slow cooker and cook at 2 (high) for the time shown.

Slow Cooker Cooking Times (approximate times)

Converting Recipes from a Traditional Oven (approximate times)